Monday, May 30, 2011

Water # 1 – Acqua Alta. Fondazione Querini Stampalia – Riccardo Schweizer. In Venice you can’t escape the acqua alta, coming into the ground floor of the Fondazione Querini Stampaliawhere the exhibition of the works of painter and designer Riccardo Schweizer are on show until November 27. Schweizer was the first Italian interpreter of the Picasso style of the post war years. The exhibition presents fifty works in the Spanish artist’s style from the 1950s, as well as, terracotta works, ceramic panels, cement and Plexiglas sculptures together with some original pieces of the 1970s and 1980s.

Water # 2 – water Lilies. Fondazione Querini Stampalia: The Carlo Scarpa Garden – a detail. A detail of the water Lily feature In the Carlo Scarpa designed garden, a quiet reference to the canals of Venice by the famous Italian architect influenced by the materials, landscape and the history of Venetian culture and Japan.

Monday, May 23, 2011

The Costume Institute: Alexander McQueen – Savage Beauty.The Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty exhibition at The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, until July 31st, is incredible and should not be missed. The exhibition celebrates the late Lee McQueen's extraordinary contributions to fashion. From his Central Saint Martins postgraduate collection in 1992 to his final runway presentation, which took place after his death in February 2010, McQueen challenged and expanded our understanding of fashion beyond utility to a conceptual expression of culture, politics, and identity.There are no words to describe the emotion and beauty, the installation, lighting and naturally above all to see the beautiful clothes close up for their craftsmanship and imagination. "Alexander McQueen's iconic designs constitute the work of an artist whose medium of expression was fashion," said Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Bowery: New Museum. The New Museum was designed by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA with Gensler, New York, serving as Executive Architect, The building has been described as "a sculptural stack of rectilinear boxes dynamically shifted off-axis around a central steel core." The architects are also the recipients of the 2010 prestigious Pritzker Prize. The Pritzker Prize Jury chairman, The Lord Palumbo quoted from the jury citation to focus on this year's selection: "For architecture that is simultaneously delicate and powerful, precise and fluid, ingenious but not overly or overtly clever; for the creation of buildings that successfully interact with their contexts and the activities they contain, creating a sense of fullness and experiential richness; for a singular architectural language that springs from a collaborative process that is both unique and inspirational; for their notable completed buildings and the promise of new projects together, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa are the recipients of the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize."

New Musuem: Cronocaos exhibition. Cronocaos, is an exhibition about the increasingly urgent topic of preservation in architecture and urbanism by OMA / Rem Koolhaas and organized by the New Museum, the exhibition, until June 5th takes place at the New Museum’s 3,600-square-foot, partially renovated, ground-floor space at 231 Bowery. It examines the growing “empire” of preservation and analyzes the consequences of these regimes for how we build, rebuild, and how we remember.

The View. The view of the lower Manhattan skyline is taken from the Terrace Bar of the New Museum.

Tea in the East Village – Susan Simon. Sunday afternoon tea at James Beard Award winning cookbook author Susan Simon apartment was quite a treat. A pity the weather was little too cold to enjoy her beautiful green and luscious terrace. The Clematis on the right was in full bloom and with all the rain the other plants are flourishing too. The two shocking pink garden chairs by Fermob come from John Derian’s store and the pretty pink and white cushion at the back was made by John Robshaw.

Photograph by Manfredi Bellati

The menu. Just as romantic as a Sunday afternoon tea evokes so do these Stewed Rhubarb and Strawberries with Ronnybrook Coconut Yogurt and Homemade Granola taste. Other delicious treats were Radish, Butter with Maldon Salt and Chives Sandwiches, Smoked Salmon on Cucumber with a dab of cream cheese bites, Roasted Sweet and Salty Almonds, Kunik Cheese from Upstate New York made with goats milk and milk from Jersey cows and a cold hibiscus tea Vc were the perfect mix for a very substantial and delicious tea party. All recipes and more can found on Susan’s blog.

Photograph by Manfredi Bellati

La “padrona di casa”. The lady of the house, Allegra who is part Vizsla and part Pitbull, enjoys the outside between a pink John Robshaw and an antique patchwork cushion.

Photograph by Manfredi Bellati

The hostess.Susan Simon puts the finishing touches on something delicious for the substantial Sunday afternoon tea.All recipes and more can be found on her blog, Susan Simon Says.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Sperone Westwater Gallery - Richard Long.In the Sperone Westwater Gallery on the Bowery, there is the exhibition of the new works by Richard Long. This is the artist’s fourteenth solo show, until June 25th, at Sperone Westwater, and his first in the new Norman Foster designed gallery. Over the course of his forty year oeuvre, Long has used nature as both subject and medium. Systems, patterns, and repetition are inherent in his process and flow and ebb is a natural rhythm, which he incorporates in this exhibition. Long uses the gallery’s first four floors to present a large site-specific work on the double-height wall, mud-on-slate works, a sculpture made of Cornish slate on the outdoor terrace, text works, and photographs.

Speone Westwater Gallery – Richard Long. The large site-specific work called, River Avon Mud Crescent, 2011, River Avon mud and acrylic on wall 27 foot diameter on the first floor scales the 29-foot high wall and can be experienced in its entirety from the ground floor and mezzanine level.

Speone Westwater Gallery – Richard Long.An elegant gentleman takes you up and down in the Moving Room Installation, where the doors open to a moving exhibition space.

Futuristic eatery – FoodParc.Renowned futurist and conceptual design visionary Syd Mead usually known for his work on such iconic sci-fi films as Blade Runner, Aliensand TRON, created FoodParc’s modern aesthetics and serene ambience in which, as Mead himself describes it, “the food is the star and the rest of the cast are the patrons”. FoodParc is a modern playground for food lovers, envisioned by restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, where in the high-tech space the cooking is down-to-earth and the exceptional ingredients are celebrated.

Affordable art – Jen Bekman Gallery.The Jen Bekman Gallery in SoHo, exhibits the work of emerging artists in the media of photography, works on paper, paintings, and mixed media, through the gallery she has also created Jen Bekman Projects Inc., which is a unique organization encompassing a diverse array of projects and programs.Innovation, creativity, and a commitment to supporting emerging artists and collectors alike are at the core of all her endeavors.

The Jen Bekman Gallery. One of the Cathedrals of Desire paintings by MichelleMuldrow, until June 5th is entitled Altar in Orange, 2011.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Lunch at ABC Kitchen. Located in the interiors design store, ABC Carpet and Home, near Union Square, ABC Kitchen was created by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and restaurateur Phil Suarez. Run by Chef Daniel Kluger, in the photograph above, the restaurant won the 2011 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant.

The Produce.ABC Kitchen is an advocate of farm to table, it's focus is to local, sustainable and organic seasonal produce that do not use pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, insecticides or GMOs; meat, fish and dairy products are locally sourced from humanely treated pasture-fed animals.

The décor. The casual décor is rather special and the space was transformed by Paulette Cole CEO and Creative Director of ABC Home, using sustainable, local, artisan indigenous found, salvaged, reclaimed and recycled building materials. I loved the mix of the modern organic handmade porcelain dinnerware and the vintage dessert plates and flatware.

Roasted Beets with Homemade Yogurt. I had lunch with James Beard Award winning cookbook author Susan Simonas we had heard by, word of mouth, how great it was, we both wanted to go and “Check it out.” Resting in an organic handmade porcelain bowl made by local artisan Jan Burtz, the roasted beets with homemade yogurt was very healthy and genuine.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream, Candied Peanuts and Popcorn, Whipped Cream, Chocolate Sauce. This was simply delicious. The sweetness of the caramel together with the dark chocolate and crunch of the peanuts and popcorn were the perfect marriage.

The Coffee. Again the use of pretty vintage ware for the espressos. All the coffees, teas spices, organic wines, juices and elixirs are organically cultivated on fair trade cooperatives.

Friday, May 20, 2011

The Armory: Ryoji Ikeda – The Transfinite.Following critically acclaimed installations by Ernesto Neto and Christian Boltanski,Ryoji Ikeda has been selected by the Park AvenueArmory for its third annual visual art commission. Ikeda creates a visual and sonic environment where visitors are submerged in an extreme illustration of projected and synchronized data. His work uses scale, light, shade, volume, shadow, electronic sounds, and rhythm to flood the senses. In choreographing vast amounts of digital information, Ikeda conjures up a transformative environment in which visitors confront data on a scale that defies comprehension, experiencing the infinite. The Transfinite installation is on view until June 11. Ryoji Ikeda is a Japanese sound and visual artist who lives and works in Paris, this is his first major installation in the United States.

450 Park Avenue: Phillips de Pury and Company Design auction – preview party.Phillips de Pury and Company’s preview of its Spring Design Auction on May 25th comprises of 176 lots of 20th-century and contemporary design.

Ozone socks. Ozonesocks are a greatly regarded “secret” they are hip and cool and are highly in demand with the In crowd. Creating Ozone Design, CEO and founder Laurie Mallet strongly believed that socks were one of the only items untouched by fashion. “Ozone Design is devoted entirely to putting fashion and fun into socks and tights. Amazingly, socks, at the time, were still looked upon as undergarments.” she explains, her goal was to bring spirit and passion to one of the most intimate and neglected parts of our wardrobe.

The Sock Monkeys.The Sock Monkeys are made with Ozone socks by volunteers at Fresh Art, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide expanded, personal development and entrepreneurial opportunities to New York city artists with special needs.

A detail.A close up of the adorable Sock Monkeys, they are so cute and make great presents and sustain the non-profit organization Fresh Art.

The men’s socks. Just in time for father’s Day, June 19th, four men’s styles of Ozone socks and the Sock Monkeys will be on sale at Saks 5th Avenue.

The Women’s socks # 1.These short transparent socks with a pretty flower pattern are especially made in a Japanese mill for Ozone.

The Women’s sock # 2.Exquisite workmanship in this OTK (over the knee) lace detailed sock with lacing at the back, which creates a “distressed” effect.

The Women’s sock # 3.A detail of the OTK Bows and Ribbons sock for next season.

The Lobby of the ACE Hotel. The lobby of the ACE Hotel in midtown looks more like the New York Public Library than a hotel lobby. As it provides free WiFi, the lobby is packed with the startup crowd working on their computers. The décor of the boutique hotel was designed by Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch of Roman and Williams. They turned a decrepit landmark 1904 building that formerly housed the Hotel Breslin into a haven of too-cool-for-school bohemian chic.

Chanel commercial. I keep seeing this commercial in the back of New York taxi's, it's so clever and fun. It is called Nowness and created by Chanel’s global creative director Peter Philips. The quirky animated commercial uses the make-up products transforming them into robots.
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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Clic Gallery: Riding the Hoods With Maripol. At the opening of Maripol’s book Little Red Riding Hood at Clic Gallery in Broome Street, Maripol signed books with double pens for a great 3D effect.

Happy Massee, Maripol and Jean-Michek Cazabat

Maripol moved to New York from France in 1976, where she became a part of the New York clubbing and music scene, styling Madonna and working on films such as Downtown 81 (starring Jean-Michel Basquiat and Deborah Harry). In the mid-1980s, she opened her own boutique, Maripolitan, in the NoHo area of New York. Maripol has also been art director on music videos for Cher, D'Angelo and Elton John, among others.